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Jana Sells Stakes Worth More Than $800 Million in Activism Shift

(Bloomberg) -- Jana Partners, the activist fund run by Barry Rosenstein, sold stakes in 21 companies and built no new positions in the first quarter, months after announcing plans to liquidate its passive funds.

The total market value of positions that Jana sold or decreased was about $815 million, according to a data compiled by Bloomberg.

The move comes after the New York-based hedge fund said in January it planned to close two of its flagship funds to focus solely on activism. Among the stakes sold was Jana’s high-profile holding in Apple Inc., which it announced last year as part of a push into socially responsible investing, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. The market value of that stake was about $16 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

It also sold stakes in Anthem Inc., Microsoft Corp., Boston Scientific Corp. and Adobe Inc., the filing shows.

In January, Jana gave investors the choice of redeeming capital from the Jana Partners and Jana Nirvana funds or moving it to activist campaigns. Rosenstein said at the time that the firm would continue to oversee its Jana Strategic Investments fund started in 2010, as well as its longer-term fund, focused on social and environmental issues, launched last year.

The active strategy was expected to initially oversee about $1.5 billion, although that may change based on how many investors chose to reinvest in the strategy, a person familiar with the matter said at the time.